Business and Corporate Notary Services in Massachusetts

A Massachusetts notary public verifies the identity of each signer, confirms the signer is acting willingly, witnesses or takes the acknowledgment of the signature, administers an oath where the document calls for one, completes a notarial certificate and applies the seal. Under M.G.L. c.222 s.15 those acts are acknowledgments, jurats, signature witnessings and copy certifications. For a business, the acknowledgment is by far the most common: the officer appears, proves identity, and acknowledges that she signed the resolution as the company’s authorized officer.

What a notary does not do matters just as much. We do not draft the operating agreement, choose between an LLC and an S corporation, advise on tax treatment or interpret what a clause means. We are commissioned notaries and a certified signing agent, not attorneys or CPAs. If the document has blanks, we will point them out and ask the signer or counsel what should be there; we will not fill them in ourselves. Keep your business attorney and accountant for the substance, and use us to make the execution clean and recordable the first time.

Why institutions insist on notarized corporate signatures

Banks, lenders, registries of deeds, foreign governments and counterparties cannot see your boardroom. A notarized acknowledgment gives them an independent public officer’s confirmation that the person who signed is who the document says, that the signature happened, and when. That is why a bank asks for a notarized borrowing resolution before it opens a credit line, why a Registry of Deeds will not record a trustee certificate without an acknowledgment, and why a foreign subsidiary registration needs a notarized and apostilled corporate document from the parent.

You brief us on the documents and signers, we confirm the fee and any special requirements, each signer presents ID and signs in Hanson’s presence, and the originals and a scan go wherever the next step is. The process is the same whether we are in a Boston boardroom or at the Tewksbury office.

1. Booking and document brief. Tell us what is being signed, how many signers, how many notarial acts, where, when, and where the documents are going (a bank, the Registry of Deeds, a foreign ministry). If an apostille is needed we plan for it from the start. If any document requires witnesses, we tell you so you can arrange them.
2. Pre-review. Email the documents or the signature pages ahead of time. We check that each notarial certificate is Massachusetts-compliant, that signer names match the resolutions, and that the capacity line (for example “as Manager of ABC Holdings LLC”) is correct. We flag anything your attorney needs to fix before the meeting.
3. Identity verification. Each signer presents a current, unexpired government-issued photo ID: a Massachusetts driver’s license or Mass ID, U.S. passport or passport card, military ID, permanent resident card or foreign passport. We record the ID in the notary journal as Massachusetts law requires.
4. Authority check. We do not judge whether an officer is legally authorized; that is counsel’s job. But the acknowledgment states the capacity in which the person signs, so we confirm the name and title on the ID and resolution match what the certificate says.
5. Signature and seal. Signatures are made in the notary’s physical presence (do not pre-sign). Oaths are administered where the document is sworn. Each notarial certificate is completed in full, signed exactly as commissioned, dated, sealed and marked with the commission expiration.
6. Delivery. Originals are handed back on the spot or packaged for the lender or filing agent. A PDF scan goes to counsel or in-house legal the same day on request.
7. Apostille, when needed. For documents going abroad we submit to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Commissions Section in Boston and return the apostilled original to you or ship it to the destination.

A single-document corporate signing usually takes 15 minutes. A commercial loan package with three officers and two guarantors runs 45 to 90 minutes. We tell you the expected time when we quote.

In-office notarization at 1215 Main St, Suite 115 in Tewksbury is $45 per notarial act, by appointment. Mobile visits are priced by zone with travel, one notarial seal and 15 minutes of service included: from $125 in Zone 1 (Tewksbury, Gardner, Ashby, Athol), from $179 in Zone 2 (Lowell, Billerica, Andover, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lawrence, Worcester, Fitchburg, Leominster, Concord, Burlington, Woburn and 40+ more) and from $250 in Zone 3 (Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Lexington, Wellesley, Weston, Lynn, Gloucester, North Andover and 110+ more). Additional seals and time beyond the first 15 minutes are quoted up front.

Corporate engagements are quoted per document or per package at booking: a loan signing with several signers, a board meeting with a stack of resolutions, a recurring monthly onboarding session. Apostille work is the $6 Massachusetts state fee per document plus our service fee, quoted per document. Look up your office location on our notary zones page; every quote is given in writing before the signing.

Corporate accounts and invoicing

Law firms, accounting firms, lenders, commercial real estate teams, property managers and HR departments can set up an account with direct monthly invoicing, priority scheduling and a quoted rate sheet. There is no client-side fee collection at the signing; the firm receives one statement. Call (978) 851-0199 to set one up. We do not promise an activation turnaround; most accounts are ready before the first signing is scheduled.

A growing share of Massachusetts businesses are founded by immigrants, owned by overseas parents or expanding abroad. Hanson Webb is fluent in English, Arabic and French and routinely supports dual-language contracts, foreign subsidiary registrations, embassy filings, international distribution agreements and founder citizenship paperwork. The notarial certificate is always completed in English; signers who prefer Arabic or French do not need to bring an interpreter to understand what the notary is asking.

Once a corporate document is notarized, foreign use usually requires a Massachusetts apostille from the Secretary of the Commonwealth under the Hague Convention of 1961, or a certification plus U.S. Department of State authentication and embassy legalization for non-Hague countries. Common corporate apostille cases are foreign subsidiary formation, opening a bank account abroad, cross-border M&A deliverables, international employment contracts, tender and bid documents, and certificates of good standing for foreign registries. Bundling notarization and apostille into one engagement avoids a second round of scheduling and a second review of the certificate. Our Massachusetts apostille service page explains the state process, fees and timelines.

Most failed corporate notarizations fail for small reasons that were visible a day earlier. The list below is what we check for in pre-review.

1. Signer name does not match the ID. The resolution names “Robert J. Smith” and the license reads “Rob Smith.” Counsel should conform the document, or the signer brings an ID that matches.
2. Officer title missing from the certificate. The acknowledgment must state the capacity. A certificate that reads only “personally appeared Jane Doe” may be rejected by a lender or registry.
3. Pre-signed documents. Signatures made before the notary arrives cannot be notarized; the signer re-executes a fresh signature page in our presence.
4. Expired ID. Massachusetts notaries cannot accept expired identification. Check every signer’s expiration date before the meeting.
5. Wrong notarial act. A sworn 6D certificate needs a jurat, not an acknowledgment. Lenders occasionally send a form from another state; we substitute a Massachusetts-compliant certificate.
6. Missing pages or exhibits. A notarized signature page detached from its exhibits is a problem at the registry and overseas.
7. Nobody confirmed the witness requirement. Some foreign jurisdictions and some lenders require one or two witnesses in addition to the notary. The company arranges them; we do not provide witnesses.
8. Apostille planned too late. Documents for a foreign filing should be notarized with the apostille in mind, with the notary’s name exactly as commissioned, so the Secretary can authenticate it without a return.

Last reviewed October 15, 2026